Bonkers Episode Guide

The format of this guide should be self-explanatory. I've tried to list the episodes in the order of their original broadcast; if an episode debuted on The Disney Channel, its original air dates on both TDC and in syndication are listed. I've also provided data on the episodes' writers and the voice credits (if known) of significant visiting characters.
The thoroughly subjective ratings (on a scale of (1) to (4)) date from my hot off the screen impressions of 1993-94. Quarrel or agree with them as you see fit.


1. Disney Channel Episodes (all with Miranda Wright)

TRAINS, TOONS, AND TOON TRAINS
2/28/93; 10/11/93 synd.
Writer: Robert Schechter.

Bonkers and Miranda's train trip to The Pen with jewel thief Vic Stiff-Lips Sullivan (William Callaway) is nearly sabotaged by psychotic dentist Peter Blaine (Matt Frewer) and his henchwoman Helga (Linda Gary), who want to learn the location of his jewel cache. Loco, a Toon locomotive, lends a hand (wheel?) to our heroes. Very Roger Rabbit-like, especially where Loco is concerned; I thought for sure we'd see these villains again.
(3)

TOKYO BONKERS
3/7/93; 10/18/93 synd.
Writers: Kevin Campbell and Brian Swenlin.

Bonkers and Miranda transport imprisoned Transformer Robot Brain Z-Bot (Robert Ridgely) back to Tokyo, but thanks to Bonkers, he gets loose. Bonkers must ignore his dreams of renewed stardom in Toon-crazy Japan and use his Toon brain to prove his worth to doubting Sergeant Tetsuo (Robert Ito, who else?) by defeating Z-Bot. A marvelous send-up of Japanese Toonmania, The Transformers , Godzilla, and anything else that gets in the way (including poor, vacationing Jitters). Love those Ninja Kitties!
(4)

THE STORK EXCHANGE
3/14/93; 10/25/93 synd.
Writer: Dev Ross.

Sleazy Lilith DuPrave (Eileen Brennan) kidnaps the storks who bring Toon babies as part of a plot to smuggle a stolen weapon out of the country. Jitters gets his most active role of the series as he plays stork decoy to help Bonkers and Miranda uncover the plot. Nice running subplot with Bonkers quizzing Miranda about where human babies come from.
(3)

BOBCAT FEVER
3/21/93; 10/6/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Hammy, method-acting Toon microbe Cheryl Germ (Tress MacNeille) is persuaded to infect Bonkers with Toon diseases by Toon mob boss Al Vermin (Robert Ridgely). Prof. Ludwig von Drake, Toon antibody General Sneezekoff, and Miranda help Bonkers ditch his bug and foil Vermin. A clever idea; the presence of MacNeille in the key role certainly doesn't hurt.
(4)

THE TOON THAT ATE HOLLYWOOD
4/4/93; 10/13/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Sourpuss clown Gloomy (Kenneth Mars) sucks the humor out of Toons, including Bonkers. When the gadget overloads, it transforms into Toon monster Gagzilla. Miranda thinks like a Toon and causes Gagzilla to self-destruct. Even for a Toon rampage of doom, Gagzilla's destruction of Hollywood is unbelievable -- and that climax! Gloomy is (unintentionally) funny, but he can't salvage this one. Listen for the Goofy cameo.
(2)

WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES YOU
4/11/93; 10/20/93 synd.
Writer: Richard Stanley.

Dopey ghost Dobie (Neil Ross), a refugee from Lonesome Ghosts, haunts the police station after Bonkers arrests him and brings him in. Von Drake's Ghostbusting fails, and only a reenactment of Dobie's old 1930's cartoon can convince him to haunt someplace else. Probably the worst of the Miranda episodes, complete with an excruciatingly dated Ghostbusters parody. It wasn't my SPIRIT that was moving after I watched this!
(1)

FISTFUL OF ANVILS
4/18/93; 10/27/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Bonkers' version of the Darkwing Duck episode "Darkwing Doubloon": in Bonkers' bedtime story to Miranda's little nephew Timmy (Dana Hill), everyone in the cast is transported to the Western town of Anvil Gulch for a battle between Trail-Mix Bonkers, Two-Gun Miranda, and Al Varmint to decide the fate of the town's valuable anvil reservoir. The snap and pacing of Doubloon aren't there, but the story is acceptably told.
(2)

WHAT YOU READ IS WHAT YOU GET
4/25/93; 10/7/93 synd.
Writer: William Scherer.

Lilith DuPrave exploits Hildy, a magical Toon typewriter who makes all the stories printed in DuPrave's NATIONAL TRASH tabloid come to life. Tabloid-obsessed Bonkers and Miranda must battle an abominable snowman (Peter Cullen), zombies, and other falsehoods manufactured by DuPrave in order to win Hildy to the side of good. Fairly decent, despite the highly unconvincing dream explanation for the surrealistic tabloid sequence.
(3)

TOON FOR A DAY
6/6/93; 10/22/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Whoopity-whoo-whoo! When Sergeant Grating gets konked on the head, he thinks he's Toon mayhem-maker Bucky Buzzsaw (Pat Fraley) -- just in time for his sworn enemy, ruthless thug Wild Man Wyatt, to bust out of jail and seek revenge. Bonkers and Miranda have to convince Kanifky that Grating hasn't gone insane, and Grating has to stop Wyatt while thinking and acting like a Toon. Basically, it's all an excuse to pull Grating completely out of character. At least you can do it to him with some impunity, since he's the Tooniest of the humans in the Miranda Bonkers cast.
(2)


2. Syndicated Episodes (Lucky Piquel, Part One)

GOING BONKERS/GONE BONKERS
Weekend of 9/4-5/93 for 1 hour pilot version; 11/8-9/93 for 2-part version.
Writers: Marion Wells, John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Wackytoons star Bonkers D. Bobcat is fired by W. W. Wacky (David Doyle), gets a job with the Hollywood P.D., and teams up with reluctant partner Lucky Piquel to battle The Collector (Michael Bell), a human-disguised-as-a-Toon who's laminating Toons for his private collection -- including Bonkers' friends. This does exactly what a pilot should do, and comparatively little beyond, though it's interesting to note that Kanifky seems almost competent in Part One. The Collector, with his turnabout riff on Judge Doom of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and his weird assistant Mr. Doodles (Charlie Adler) steal the show.
(3)

IN THE BAG
9/6/93
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Someone's stealing the Mad Hatter and March Hare's tea cups, and other things besides. As Piquel investigates, he has to contend with Bonkers' efforts to help him get ready for the upcoming merit raise inspection . The thief turns out to be a Toon handbag (Frank Welker), and the inspection is a sewer inspection, which actually seems fitting in light of the episode's quality. Bad to the point of total incoherence, despite some well-meaning attempts to put Chuck Jones-style mannerisms on a more-taciturn-than-usual Piquel.
(1)

HEAR NO BONKERS, SEE NO BONKERS
9/7/93
Writer: Marion Wells.

Bonkers accidentally gets Lucky fired when the two partners stumble upon a scam to make Toons vanish and extort money for them for the antidote. Needless to say, Bonkers has to help Lucky catch the crooks and get his job back. Miranda makes a deskbound cameo appearance in Kanifky's office, looking distraught; I can't say I blame her. Only marginally better than "In the Bag". The crooked TV-commercial director (Hamilton Camp) looks like a caricature of his voice actor.
(1)

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF TOON
9/8/93
Writer: Jeff Saylor.

Lucky catches Bonkers' Toon flu and turns into a tiny green Toon. At least they got the obligatory shrinking episode out of the way fairly quickly -- and thanks to some funny bits with Kanifky, it's not all that bad.
(2)

IS TOON FUR REALLY WARM?
9/9/93
Writers: Bruce Talkington and Richard Stanley.

Lucky promises Marilyn that her favorite Toon, Skunky Skunk (Scott Bullock), will visit her birthday party, but instead Skunky's framed for murder by Mr. McScam (Gregg Berger). Despite some strange details (an open-air coffin with PADLOCKS??), some good dialogue and the presence of Marilyn make this a fair success. Skunky Skunk is like Bullock's Ignatz Parrot (of Tale Spin's "Polly Wants a Treasure") raised to the Nth power.
(3)

CALLING ALL CARS
9/10/93
Writer: David Titcher.

Toon tow truck Ma Parker (June Foray) lulls Piquel into inattentiveness with her flattery, enabling her and her Toon boys (Rob Paulsen, Pat Fraley) to swipe metal from stolen police cars and turn Ma into the ultimate monster truck . Bonkers and an enlightened Lucky face off vs. Ma in the monster truck ring. With the possible exception of "Comeback Kid", perhaps the ultimate example of Lucky falling for an altogether obvious con game; the overall sense of embarrassment is further heightened by some illogical plot points. When they showed clips of this episode at June Foray's 1994 San Diego Comic-Con panel, June compared it unfavorably to Rocky and Bullwinkle. Don't strain yourself, Ms. Foray!
(2)

FALL APART BOMB SQUAD
9/13/93
Writers: Bruce Talkington and Ralph Sanchez.

A crazy Toon Bomb (Jess Harnell) who wants to be a stand-up comic terrorizes the city, and Lucky and Bonkers take the case with their new explosives expert, Fall-Apart Rabbit. Manic, frantic, a little illogical in spots (practicing with LIVE bombs?!), but possessing enough weird energy to be most enjoyable. Listen carefully for the names of the winners of the Best Toon Walla.
(4)

IN TOONS WE TRUST
9/14/93
Writer: Laraine Ankow.

Bonkers tries to talk Lucky out of arresting his giant bird pal, Li'l Hubert, for a string of jewel robberies, but Lucky ends up losing faith in his partner. Bonkers manages to clear Hubert, restore his reputation with Lucky, and get back his lost badge. One of the few episodes in which the partners' relationship is the major focal point, but weakened by an erratic, jerky plot that accelerates and decelerates like a Toon roller coaster, plus a fairly annoying Baby Huey parody.
(2)

NEVER CRY PIG
9/15/93
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

The Three Big Pigs try to frame the Mean Ol' Wolf (Rodger Bumpass) for blowing down the flimsy houses in their newest subdivision. Not as clever as Raw Toonage 's spoof of the Disney classic, but competent enough; a parody of The Defiant Ones (a la Gummi Bears' "For a Few Sovereigns More"), a satirical reference to Nick at Nite, and Piquel's momentary acceptance of a bribe (!) help to liven things up.
(3)

HAMSTER HOUSEGUEST
9/16/93
Writers: Ellen Svaco and Colleen Taber.

Thanks to Bonkers, Piquel has to babysit Tiny (Charlie Adler), a giant Toon hamster, who's being pursued by Mr. Big (Scott Bullock), the Toon mouse who used to be his TV partner. Bonkers and Lucky have to stop the duo before they destroy the city -- and try our patience beyond its limits. Tiny makes Li'l Hubert seem like Clark Gable. Another situation in which we wish Lucky really WOULD wring Bonkers' neck.
(1)

THE CHEAP SHEEP SWEEP
9/17/93
Writers: Steve Cuden, Steve Sustarsic.

A Toon wolf (Brad Garrett) kidnaps hapless Toons and sells them on the market as hideous novelty sheep. More attempts at detection than usual, though the attempts aren't much to write home about; rivals "Fall Apart Bomb Squad" in its exploration of the question "How dumb is Fall-Apart"?
(2)

THE DAY THE TOON STOOD STILL
9/20/93
Writer: Steve Cuden.

Pops Klock (Stuart Pankin), the keeper of Toon time, quits and pitches Toons into chaos. The scene in which Fall-Apart and Bonkers start to fade back to the drawing board actually has an edge to it, as does the episode as a whole.
(3)

WEATHER OR NOT
9/21/93
Writer: Dean Stefan.

Bonkers gets to imitate Inspector Clouseau, Jack Webb, Sherlock Holmes, and Humphrey Bogart as he and Lucky investigate the disappearance of some popular TV weather Toons. Forgettable but amusing.
(3)

BASIC SPRAINING
9/22/93
Writer: Kathryn Perdue.

Criminal Mackey McSlime (Peter Cullen, doing the sort of overbearing villain he does so well) sets up a phony police academy to trap his vengeance-objects Lucky and Bonkers. Our heroes have to cooperate as never before to survive, up to the point of Lucky trusting Bonkers enough to pull him through a Toon tunnel. The one episode in which the Lucky-Bonkers relationship actually matures and progresses beyond the standard irritation/hero-worship; Bonkers' heartfelt "Trust me!" is an emotional high point of the series.
(4)

ONCE IN A BLUE TOON
9/23/93
Writer: Steve Sustarsic.

Lucky and Bonkers try to reform the unreformable Toon Louse (Brad Garrett), and the effort ends up driving Lucky insane (a la Pete in a number of Goof Troop episodes). If you can't feel sorry for Piquel after this, YOU must be a Louse.
(2)

LUNA-TOONS
9/24/93
Writer: Ralph Sanchez.

When cute alien Quark (Frank Welker) invades the Earth, he's mistaken for a Toon. Inexplicably, Quark is left on Earth at the end of the episode, with no effort to write him out of the series -- and he never appears again! I have a theory that this was an attempt to salvage a little something from the announced, but apparently busted, series concept Quarks, which was supposedly to be produced in the mid-90's. I think they were being overly generous.
(2)

TIME WOUNDS ALL HEELS
9/27/93
Writer: Steve Sustarsic.

Bonkers meets Cape Fear: sinister parolee Max Coody (Jack Angel) is apparently stalking a frantic Piquel, who sent him up the river back in the 70's, and Lucky tries to evade him in a swamp. It turns out that all Coody wanted to do was to thank Lucky for showing him that crime doesn't pay. Some very funny ideas, especially the notion of a 70's Piquel dropping slang like You're not bein' very groovy, man! but looking pretty much the same (a la the flashback Homer Simpson), and Angel gives a super performance as the deadpan Coody, but I'm not sure if Lucky is THAT much of a coward.
(3)

POLTERTOON
9/28/93
Writer: Laraine Arkow.

Elmo (Frank Welker), a Groucho-like Toon ghost, moves into the Piquel house on the night Chief and Mrs. Kanifky come to dinner. Yes, they do another parody of Ghostbusters along the way, while Bonkers seems to hang onto poor Lucky like a leech (particularly in the first part of the episode). Rock bottom; a big part for Marilyn and Welker's Groucho imitation go for naught.
(1)

HAND OVER THE DOUGH
9/29/93
Writer: Carl Swenson.

As Lucky suffers through an attempt to lose weight, he and Bonkers have to investigate sabotage at Gentle Ben Butterman's (Frank Welker) bakeries. Butterman's smarmy spokesToon Mikey Muffin (Scott Bullock) is the culprit. Almost too many logical lapses to count, and for added enjoyment, there's a tired conveyor belt rescue scene climax that s lifted bodily from the Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers episode "Mind Your Cheese and Q's".
(1)

THE RUBBER ROOM SONG (plus three)
9/30/93

The first Raw Toonage compilation episode: the title routine (lifted from "Casabonkers", complete with a quick glimpse of Miranda), followed by the He's Bonkers shorts "Ski Patrol", "Bonkers in Space", and "Draining Cats and Dogs". Uhh...Fawn Deer sure looks good in a tight spacesuit, doesn't she?
(No rating -- what's there to rate??)

TUNE PIG
10/1/93
Writers: Bruce Talkington and Fred Lucky.

Sleazy, chair-riding lounge lizard singer Julio Calamari (Michael Bell) kidnaps Toon pig Charlie (Jess Harnell) and forces him to be his voice. To complicate the partners' investigation, Dil Piquel is a huge Calamari fan, and she's got an after-concert dinner with him. Incredibly shoddy animation (thank you, Kennedy Cartoons) almost sinks this effort, but not quite; the amusing Calamari, an intriguingly cockeyed premise, an unusually large (and slightly Toony) role for Dil, and Cummings' purposefully bad singing as Lucky combine to make it a more-than-watchable experience.
(3)


3. Syndicated Episodes (all with Miranda Wright)

NEW PARTNERS ON THE BLOCK
10/4/93
Writer: Marion Wells.

Fume if you like at the ultimately baneful influence of this hook-up episode, but it's still one of the sprightliest and funniest of all Bonkerstales, overcoming its indifferent animation with sheer, unadulterated energy. In the course of combating chili-pepper-chomping Fireball Frank (Brad Garrett), Bonkers teams up with Miranda Wright, and Lucky somehow impresses taciturn Agent Tolson (Rodger Bumpass) enough to wangle a job with the FBI. Writing Toots, Fall-Apart and Broderick the Toon CB out of the Miranda scenario might have been a small bit of overkill.
(4)

WITLESS FOR THE PROSECUTION
10/5/93
Writers: Richard Stanley and Len Uhley.

Miranda witnesses a crime committed by Lilith DuPrave and must hide out at Bonkers' apartment until the trial. And I thought DuPrave was the one who deserved to be punished. Like "The Day the Toon Stood Still", this tale has a distinctly serious edge to it; Miranda reams out the hyper Bonkers and Grumbles for endangering her, and DuPrave's goon Mr. Blackenblue (Maurice LaMarche) shoots out her car window. Features the series' most legitimate chase sequence.
(3)

DO TOONS DREAM OF ANIMATED SHEEP?
10/8/93
Writer: Marlowe Weisman.

Toon sheep Baabra (Louise Duart), a wisecracker with a heart like Darkwing Duck's Neptunia, steals Bonkers' dreams in order to enjoy some dreams of her own. Through the mediation of Von Drake's dream projector, Baabra travels from dreamer to dreamer, ending up in Miranda's coffee-and-donuts-filled dream. Bonkers must enter his partner's dream in order to get his own dreams back. Extremely clever and imaginative, though a little diffuse at times; cameos and parodies include Darkwing Duck, Ferdinand the Bull, the Mary Poppins carousel horse race, and that long-time Disney TV parodee, The Wizard of Oz.
(3)

QUIBBLING RIVALRY
10/12/93
Writer: Len Uhley.

Bonkers is ready to quit the force after Miranda's cocky newshound sister Shirley (Erin Gray) exposes his destructive tendencies during her TV feature on Toons. It doesn't really matter how many times Bonkers and Miranda conveniently ran into that little old lady (Pat Musick) and her lousy cat; in no other episode of the series is the bobcat so wholly sympathetic, and in no other Miranda episode are Miranda's emotions and self-esteem put to such a test. A marvelous episode, and one that makes one seriously wonder how good the series could have been had the proponents of wacky Toon humor not carried the day.
(4)

SPRINGTIME FOR THE IGUANA
10/14/93
Writer: Robert Schechter.

Bonkers' pompous "actohr" bud, Roderick Lizzard (Jeff Bennett), stoops to taking a monster role in a live-action film. After Rod's framed as a firebug by his rival for the part, Crunchy Potato Chip (Robert Costanzo), Bonkers must help him clear his name. More bizarre than truly great, but a nice showcase for Roderick.
(3)

CASABONKERS
10/15/93
Writers: Kevin Campbell and Brian Swenlin.

I haven't seen Casablanca, so a lot of the jokes probably fly over my head, but this goofy dust-up between Bonkers, Flaps the elephant gangster (Joe Alaskey), and Bonkers' sexy ex-flame Katya Leggsgowannalot (Sherry Lynn) over the legendary flying Circle Beanie can be fully enjoyed by ANYONE as good, clean Toon fun.
(4)

LOVE STUCK
10/19/93
Writers: Libby Hinson and Jordana Arkin.

While investigating the kidnapping of male contestants from Boss Hoss' (Sorrell Booke) Western-themed dating show, Bonkers contrives to fall in love with a human bachelorette, Rita (Pamela Hayden). He goes undercover as "Love Desperado #3" to investigate the culprit, nebbishy but self-possessed porcupine Winston Prickly, whose amusingly-realized persona almost singlehandedly saves this ill-considered episode from disaster.
(2)

OF MICE AND MENACE
10/21/93
Writer: Marlowe Weisman.

Flaps and his trio of Toon henchmice swipe Dumbo's flag so that Flaps can realize his dream and fly. Instead, the uninvolving subplot of Bonkers adopting the abandoned mice as pets flutters around aimlessly like a confused butterfly. Timothy Q. Mouse has absolutely nothing to worry about.
(2)

DOG DAY AFTERTOON
10/26/93
Writer: Richard Stanley.

After short-fused Toon pit bull Pitts (Hamilton Camp) gets fired from The Pitts and Smarts Show, he freaks out and holds Grating and Miranda hostage in the bank holding the show's account. Bonkers-led negotiations, including an appeal by Smarts (La Marche, in a complete waste of his well-known "Bing Crosby" persona), lead to a phony getaway in a Toon gas truck (Corey Burton as Hans Conried) driven by Jitters. How they could have botched a spoof of such an eminently parodiable movie is one of those little Bonkers mysteries; they even forgot to trash Jitters. The opening Pitts and Smarts cartoon sequence goes on entirely too long and is thunderously unfunny.
(2)

THE 29th PAGE
10/28/93
Writer: Shari Goodhartz.

The series' most-successfully-realized detective story, this also stands as Al Vermin's official first appearance. The title phrase, spoken by Vermin's cocooning Caterpillar stoolie, is the only clue to the location of the hidden vault of Barbarian Barlowe. The key to the treasure turns out to be located on page 29 of Barlowe's book of poetry, which (gosh all fishhooks!) just happens to be Bonkers' latest enthusiastic obsession. Most engagingly told, with Grating's behavior at the end his best true good guy moment of the series.
(4)

CARTOON CORNERED
10/29/93
Writer: Steve Cuden.

On a visit to Wackytoons Studio, Toon-hating Grating is trapped in the studio's bizarre Toon milieu by Bucky Buzzsaw. As if that weren't bad enough, Grating's nemesis, Wild Man Wyatt, is on the loose once again. Could be styled Grating's Toon breakthrough episode, except that the Sarge never got a chance to progress further than this first connection with a cute Toon Alarm Clock.
(3)


4. Syndicated Episodes (all with Lucky Piquel)

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE KANIFKY
11/1/93
Writer: Ralph Sanchez.

The Mayor (Don Messick) demotes Kanifky, who becomes Bonkers and Piquel's partner during their pursuit of Scatter Squirrel (Tino Insana). Not as unendurable as one might expect an episode focusing on the Kanifster to be, though the Chief's backstory completely contradicts the flashback in the earlier "Time Wounds All Heels".
(2)

I OUGHTA BE IN TOONS
11/2/93
Writers: Richard Stanley and Bruce Talkington.

M***** M****, aka the most famous Toon in the world , replaced by a human wannabee in a rat suit (Brad Garrett) by conniving Mr. Corkscrew (Gregg Berger), with Lucky's unwitting assistance?? Not if M*****-admiring Bonkers has anything to say about it. Though much panned in some quarters for the "ridiculous reverence" with which the heard-but-not-seen You-Know-Who is treated, this is actually a pretty decent parody of the cutthroat Hollywood world.
(3)

FRAME THAT TOON
11/3/93
Writers: Ellen Svaco and Colleen Taber.

When Lucky foregoes a big tourist-robberies case to help Bonkers help a young Toon saxophone (Cree Summer) find her missing brother (Dorian Harewood), he finds that the two cases are unexpectedly connected. Bonkers narrates, a la Bogie or Jack Webb; despite the jarring, Warners-ripoff film gag at the end, he has a fairly interesting tale to spin. The episode could have benefited from better animation, as well as some tighter editing in the overly-long "Bonkers and Lucky try to crash The Silver Note"sequence.
(3)

A WOOLY BULLY
11/4/93
Writer: Gary Sperling.

An out-of-work Toon superhero, Mammoth Mammoth (Stuart Pankin), goes on a crime spree, and Bonkers and Lucky must corral him while fighting to overcome Bonkers' latest obsession, an "efficiency" kick. A familiar idea, handled without a great deal of spirit or imagination; Kanifky is even further out of touch than usual with his "spot definitions of words".
(2)

STAY TOONED
11/5/93
Writer: Jeff Saylor.

Bonkers suspects EVERYONE of theft after a valuable piece of evidence gets lost (thanks to him). This deserves a few points simply because Lucky gets to trash Bonkers (in perhaps his most annoying role of the Piquel regime) at the end. And I'm not being unfair; he really deserves it this time!
(3)

O CARTOON! MY CARTOON!
11/10/93
Writer: Gordon Kent.

Raw Toonage Salvage Job #2: "Spatula Party", "Sheerluck Bonkers", and "Get Me a Pizza (Hold the Minefield)" (the infamous World War I pizza-delivery short) surround a rather feeble attempt to capture some "Bullwinkle's Corner"-style magic, in which Fall-Apart acts out Bonkers' recitation of his own version of the Whitman poem.
(No rating)

COLOR ME PIQUEL
11/11/93
Writers: Mark Zaslove and Bruce Talkington.

Squash and Stretch, a pair of black-and-white Toons, steal color from other Toons in order to colorize themselves. A legitimately clever idea -- and a fitting subject for some truly stinging satire -- runs aground on the shoals of a (literally) pale attempt to revive the "Lucky discovers the advantages of Toon logic" theme of Basic Spraining and an inadequate development of Squash and Stretch's personalities. The pizza arc with Fall-Apart makes no sense whatsoever. A real disappointment from two of the leading creative lights of the DTVA glory days.
(2)

STAND-IN DAD
11/12/93
Writer: Kathryn Perdue.

When Lucky goes undercover as Grandpa Arnie, Marilyn's favorite TV-kiddie-show host, he learns that Marilyn feels neglected and betrayed by her father. Despite a humiliating role and the inevitable "I can't get my costume off" routine, Lucky manages to bond with his daughter and nab nickel-nutty scamster Two-Bits (Gilbert Gottfried) at the same time. This episode is justifiably praised as one of Lucky's most significant humanizing moments.
(4)

CEREAL SURREAL
11/15/93
Writer: Dean Stefan.

Snap, Sniffle, and Flop, a trio of veteran cereal spokesToons, are framed by a smarmy trio of younger, hipper sprites who want their jobs. Lucky and Bonkers' investigation of some cereal-prize thefts leads them into the thick of the scam. Though several other fans have praised this episode's wild humor, I find it to be somewhat overburdened with unfunny set pieces, saddled with a more-whiny-than-usual Bonkers, and enleadened by that sure sign of a lack of inspiration, a contrived conveyor belt rescue sequence that goes on entirely too long.
(2)

IF
11/16/93
Writer: Gordon Kent.

Salvage Job #3: once again, Bonkers tries (and fails) to revive the spirit of "Bullwinkle's Corner", with Jitters illustrating Bonkers' recitation of the Kipling poem. The Raw Toonage material consists of "Petal to the Metal", "Dogzapoppin", and "Trail Mix Bonkers".
(No rating)

THE DIMMING
11/17/93
Writer: Dean Stefan.

Piquel spends his vacation as the caretaker of a remote ski lodge, so that he'll have the time to finish his horror novel. He ends up running into trouble in the form of a visiting Kanifky and yet another wacky Toon ghost (Frank Welker). Lucky's stress level certainly makes him a reasonable candidate to fill the Jack Nicholson role in this parody of The Shining, but that doesn't mean it's an advisable idea to once again make him an undeserving scapegoat. It's unclear exactly why the gabby Toon Grapevine accompanies Fall-Apart to the hotel; perhaps Fall-Apart took the "Concord" part of the way?
(2)

TOON WITH NO NAME
11/18/93
Writer: Steve Cuden.

The cast members of a "Wild West" cartoon Bonkers once made are disappearing one by one. Bonkers spices the investigation with a bit-by-bit recounting of the cartoon's plot to Piquel. The energy level is high, and the episode has more than its share of legitimately funny lines (not to mention the series' best encapsulation of Fall-Apart's uniquely sideways logic), but the effect is flawed by an incredible number of animation flubs (such as Bonkers speaking in Fall-Apart's voice and Toots' cowboy hat appearing and disappearing), plus YET ANOTHER conveyor belt rescue scene. The kind of episode where you end up gritting your teeth at obvious mistakes that would never have been made had Bonkers' production process not been so slapdash.
(3)

GET WACKY
11/19/93
Writer: Richard Stanley.

An all-too-rare attempt to reach back to the more-restrained spirit of the Miranda episodes. Infamous Toon crook Wacky Weasel (Rip Taylor) has escaped the pen and is causing chaos; Lucky and Bonkers' straightforward assignment is to bring him to justice. Wacky occasionally gets on the nerves, but he's the kind of nervy Toon nogoodnik who makes Bonkers' use of his Tooniness for good seem admirable by contrast. Broderick and his reformed Toon scanner cousin Roderick (Jim Cummings) get a surprisingly large amount of air time. Biggest negative: the iris-out gag with Lucky tends to undercut the stated theme of "reality vs. cartoons".
(3)

THE FINAL REVIEW
11/22/93
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Bonkers and Piquel must protect TV critic Charles Quibble (Scott Bullock), a consummate jerk, from an assassin, even as Bonkers drives Lucky nuts with his constant emulation of Eastwood-clone TV star T. J. Finger (Danny Ferro). Execrable animation from ever-popular Kennedy Cartoons makes a hash out of what is actually a halfway-decent writing job. There's additional intrigue for DTVA fans in the fact that Quibble just may be a parody of Disney Afternoon-bashing animation critic Charles Solomon.
(2)

GOLDIJITTERS AND THE THREE BOBCATS
11/24/93
Writer: Gordon Kent.

With Salvage Job #4, the Bonkers material from Raw Toonage (here, "Quest for Firewood", "Gobble Gobble Bonkers", and "Get Me to the Church on Time") finally runs out. Mercifully, with a Goldilocks parody that gives the venerable fairy tale more than a few compound "Fractures", so do Bonkers' attempts to do Rocky and Bullwinkle-style humor.
(No rating)

SEEMS LIKE OLD TOONS
11/26/93
Writers: Wayne Levi and Dean Stefan.

At Toon Camp, Marilyn and her Toon Pencil pal (who speaks for the first time, in the voice of Jack Angel), along with Lucky and Bonkers, must help Flugel Studios stars Beezle, Buzzle, and Grumps (Ed Asner) make a final cartoon before their studio is torn down. Probably the series' least-acceptable twist on the Toons as actors concept; if Flugel cartoons are indeed done "the old-fashioned way...frame by frame", then how can the Flugel stars exist independent of this process, and why are they shown acting inside a movie screen? Then, when you consider the fact that Pelican (Gregg Berger) of Pelican Express is a half-hearted ripoff of Launchpad McQuack...
(1)

MIRACLE AT THE 34th PRECINCT
11/27/93
Writer: Ralph Sanchez.

When Santa Claus (Hal Smith) is reported lost in a storm, his slightly cynical elves Jingle and Belle (Beau Weaver, Katie Leigh) select Lucky as Santa's stand-in. Lucky bungles, as expected, but ultimately succeeds in proving that "yes, Marilyn, there IS a Santa Claus". A real mixed bag, just like Santa's; the Claus-training gags are generally decent, but Fall-Apart's befriending and subsequent abuse of the amnesiac Santa is not. Above-average animation from Kennedy Cartoons, though.
(3)

COMEBACK KID
11/29/93
Writers: Gary Sperling, John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.

Toon rooster Chick (Chick Vennera) and his bovine sidekick Stew (Tino Insana) con clueless Bonkers into directing incredibly clueless Lucky in a movie that's a cover for their theft of a diamond. Imagine the DuckTales episode "Hero for Hire" written by the main characters of Dumb and Dumber, and you can conceive a tiny part of the exquisite pain wrought by this embarrassingly inept excuse for an episode, which gets my symbolic thumb and forefinger clenching the nose as Bonkers' worst. "Put Lucky in nutty costumes" and "make Lucky a total dupe and buffoon" raised to a veritable art form (if that's the proper term).
(1)

THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD
2/7/94
Writers: David Titcher, Dev Ross, and Laraine Arkow.

Toon camera Zoom (Rob Paulsen) and Toon microphone Big Boom (Pat Fraley) frame Lucky for robbery in the course of exploiting him for their TV show, Cops R Us. Fairly standard "Piquel-the-dupe" shenanigans, serving merely to wash the unpleasant taste of Comeback Kid from one's mouth and give Bonkers ' favorite subgenre SOME minimal degree of renewed dignity.
(2)

FALL-APART LAND
2/9/94
Writer: Bruce Talkington.

Lucky and Fall-Apart pursue the dream of running their own theme park, and it's up to sensible (!?!) Bonkers to help them from being taken by a crooked real-estate agent and his equally sleazy Toon limousine. The turnabout "Bonkers shows responsibility for Lucky" notion and the ending gag about being arrested for running a theme park without a Mouse have their partisans; I think it'd be easier to sell me a theme park than to get me to agree.
(1)

IMAGINE THAT
2/14/94
Writer: Jeff Saylor.

Marilyn pursues a graffiti-spreading Dirty Toon Pencil (Scott Bullock) into a surreal Toon world, and her loving Dad Lucky must follow. Marilyn shows the strength of her uncomplicated but thoroughly admirable character by straightforwardly convincing the Pencil to reform. This much-praised "Lucky in Wackyland" tale pulls heart-strings to extremely good effect and gives Lucky something truly constructive to do for a change. A series high point for both Lucky and Marilyn, and the series' last real moment of glory.
(4)

A FINE KETTLE OF TOONS
2/17/94
Writers: Steve Cuden and Jeff Saylor.

Any connection between the adjective "Fine" and an episode teaming up Kanifky and Fall-Apart is entirely fictitious. Especially when the reason for the teamup is to spy on Lucky and Bonkers for possible goldbricking, when in fact Piquel is planning a surprise party to celebrate the Chief's 40th anniversary on the force. A lonely highlight here is Mark Hamill's first voicing assignment for a Disney Afternoon series.
(1)

STRESSED TO KILL
2/23/94
Writer: Robert Schechter.

Lucky suffers from some major-league stress in trying to chase down an art thief (John Astin). Locked in an isolation chamber in an attempt to alleviate his problem, Lucky reverts to a primitive state when he's left inside far longer than he should be. The series' last episode is pleasant enough and features an unexpected return by Miranda regular Ludwig Von Drake, but it'd be a stretch to call it an unqualified success.
(2)


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